As with most second albums, the successful traits started to isolate themselves on Hard Workin' Man: macho stuff like "Hard Workin' Man" and "Rock My World (Little Country Girl)" rocked harder than anything on Brand New Man, though Brooks & Dunn made sure their women came off as good as they did (catch the "and women too" tag on "Hard Workin' Man").
The slower songs ("That Ain't No Way to Go," "She Used to Be Mine") tended toward the sort of evocative images that ran all through their debut.
The pair never put all the elements together they way they did their first time out, but they came close enough that few people noticed.